ITU Tasks Govts On Broadband Networks

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), has urged governments of all nations to prioritise the roll-out of high-speed broadband infrastructure, applications and services.

In a statement issued on Monday in Lagos,   Secretary-General of ITU, Dr Hamadoun Toure, said that such roll-out would serve as catalyst for future socio-economic growth.

Toure said that the Broadband Commission for Digital Development had issued an open letter to G20 leaders, urging them to do all they could to promote the development of broadband networks.

“In the information society of the 21st century, countries must make the necessary investments to enable their citizens to participate in and benefit from the digital economy and global innovation, or risk exclusion,” he said.

The Tide gathered that the Broadband Commission for Digital Development was established in May 2010 by the ITU and UNESCO to highlight the importance of broadband in helping to boost achievement of the MDGs.

G20 is a group of finance ministers and central bank governors from 20 major economies. Collectively, the G20 economies account for more than 80 per cent of the gross world product (GWP).

Equating the importance of broadband to essential utilities like water, roads, rail and electricity, the secretary-general said that governments had a key role to play in stimulating broadband deployment.

He said that government should put in place pro-competitive and pro-investment policies, lower barriers to entry and make direct investment where appropriate.

According to him, the private sector also has a fundamental role of driving the roll-out of networks and services and fuelling ongoing innovation.

“This meeting of the G20 is an excellent opportunity to raise awareness of the need to promote ‘broadband inclusion for all’ and moving it to the top of the international policy agenda.

“‘We must act now to ensure that future generations from all countries and across all social strata can take full advantage of the unprecedented power of broadband to extend access to knowledge, culture, and vital social services like healthcare, education and e-government,” he said.

Toure noted that the latest ITU figures showed that 2.4 billion people were using the Internet, adding that there were now over one billion mobile broadband subscriptions worldwide.

According to him, mobile is set to be the access platform of choice for most people in the developing world where fixed line penetration remains low.

“However, well over half of the world’s people from those in developing countries to those living in geographically isolated communities to marginalised groups like persons living with disabilities, the elderly, the illiterate and house-bound women are yet to get online.

“That makes digital inclusion an important issue that needs to be tackled by every country not just the world’s poorer nations,’’ the ITU Secretary-General said.

He said that the Broadband Commission would be actively promoting its message of ‘broadband for all’ at other key international gatherings this year.